A Girl Thing
by firefly
Summary: Sakura has put up with her team's lack of hygiene and communication for far too long, and just as she thinks she's bound to be alone in her misery, she finds comfort from a most unexpected source...Kakashi. *COMPLETE!*
1. Pre Menstrual Sakura

A Girl Thing

By: Firefly

Note: Hiya! Kay, let's start by saying that this is my first Naruto fic. I decided on a humor type story cuz, quite frankly, it's the easiest way to start on a new anime. I also want to clarify that I don't own Naruto. I'd be very happy if I did, though…and one more thing. This is a Saku/Kaka FRIENDSHIPPY fic! I have no intention of making Kakashi appear as some kind of perverted pedophile…-_-;; I also warn that this is a fic for the slightly mature, and is actually intended for the female audience, but I have no objection to male readers! They may find it weird though…so anyway, on with the fic! And leave a review if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see how well this goes. Thanx! Have a nice day.

_Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes._

_There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.     _**–Henry Kissinger**

**A Girl Thing**

****

Sakura trudged miserably through the mud, shoulders slumped, and head bowed. _This mission rots…_she thought sullenly as she felt her shoe get sucked off into the thick black mud. Team 7 had been trekking through miles of muddy forest on their course to the West City. Their job was to return a valuable artifact to the museum owner in West City, and for once in her life, Sakura agreed that she'd rather risk her neck in a B rank mission than swimming through miles and miles of stinking mud.

"Cheer up, guys! We're not far now."

Sakura glanced upwards as Kakashi waved down at the team from a tree, smiling cheerily. 

Sakura managed a weak smile in return, as Inner Sakura screamed inside her head. _Easy for him to say! He's been swinging through those freaking trees like a damn monkey!_

She sighed and looked ahead of her, feeling thoroughly depressed. Even the sight of Sasuke did not cheer her mood, and the sight of Naruto only made it worse. She was smelly, her hair was greasy, her nails were broken, and worst of all, she KNEW she was shy of meeting her monthly deadline, which was never a pretty site because of the pain and violent mood swings she'd suffer. 

She sniffed and felt her eyes water at the thought of how disgusting she probably looked right now, and how the only company she had were three members of the opposite sex, none of whom she could really talk to. Sasuke wanted nothing to do with her, Naruto had the attention span of a doorknob, and Kakashi was…just Kakashi. She sniffed again as she pictured the oncoming holiday, and how she'd have to wait and suffer until her next intelligent conversation and decent bath.

It was late afternoon when they decided to set up their tents and retire for the day, and just as Sakura was looking forward to crawling into her tent and falling asleep, Naruto grabbed her hand and yanked her away from her tent.

"Oi! Sakura, look what I found!" Naruto said excitedly.

She reluctantly went over to what he discovered and saw a small greenish pond. Without warning, he threw off his jacket and leapt into the pond, splashing Sakura with the murky water.

She stared at him through wet bangs, barely able to think straight because of the extreme frustration that was building inside of her. But before she could smack Naruto upside his head, he had grabbed her wrist and had pulled her into the pond.

"AAAHHHH!!! NARUTO YOU IDIOT!" Sakura screamed as she resurfaced, choking on the algae-ridden water. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?"

Naruto grinned and splashed her. "Hey, at least we're getting a bath while we can," he said as he swum around in circles.

Sakura narrowed her eyes but said nothing. Now that she thought about it, the water was a nice change from the thick mud. Just as she was about to relax though, she saw that Sasuke and Kakashi were standing at the edge of the pond, staring at her and Naruto with an amused look on their faces.

"What?" She said, annoyed, as Kakashi started to snicker.

"Sakura," Sasuke said seriously, though with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Not that I care, but I wouldn't be sitting in that pond if I were you."

"Why not?!" Naruto demanded, as he swam up beside Sakura. "It's great!"

Sasuke did not reply, and instead pointed a finger at Naruto's head. 

Automatically, Naruto's hands went up into his hair, and that's when he felt it. He let out a scream and leapt out of the water, dancing around in a demented fashion as Kakashi started laughing at him.

Sakura paled, and took one arm out of the water, her pupils narrowing to the size of dots when she saw what was clinging to her flesh.

"EEEEEEEEEEEYYYYAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" She shrieked, also leaping out of the water. 

"LEECHES!!!!"

Terrified beyond belief, she desperately grabbed and flung off each oozing mass of blood-sucking parasites that clung to her body. She let out a cry of disgust as she grabbed the last one, and with a sickening SPLOOCH sound, she ripped it from her skin and flung it across the pond.

Whirling around, she glowered dangerously at Naruto, who cowered back from her as Kakashi and Sasuke looked on in amusement.

"Naruto…" she said between clenched teeth. "You…you…" she never finished, however, because tears of frustration took over and spilled heavily down her cheeks. With her face blazing, she turned her back on them and ran back to her tent, where she sealed herself in and finally let the tears fall.

**********

Sakura's mood did not improve with time, and she grimaced inwardly when she felt a jolt of pain in her lower abdomen. Ah, the curse of being female. Having to suffer every month for every year of your youth. Most girls did not have a problem with this curse, but Sakura, unfortunately, was victim of severe cramps and extreme PMS. Usually on these days, she kept her distance from everyone, and was always on edge. And since she was already in such a miserable state, her cramps and Naruto's voice did not help.

"Eh…Sakura?" Naruto said meekly outside her tent. "Um, are you okay? Listen, I'm sorry about the whole pond thing…"

No response.

"Sakura?" Naruto squeaked, gathering enough guts to poke his head into her tent. 

It was one of the stupidest things he ever did.

"_GET OUT!_" Sakura screeched, sounding inhuman as she flung a fist at him, hitting him square in the nose. Naruto stumbled out of her tent, clutching his nose in agony as Sasuke smirked and tended to the fire.

Kakashi watched him hop around in pain before he offered him a handkerchief, which Naruto took gratefully and pressed against his now bloody nose. 

"Ow, ow, ow…" Naruto moaned in pain, as he sat near the fire and tended to his injury, examining the damage Sakura had done to his face.

Kakashi stared at Naruto's nose in mild surprise, his uncovered eye widening slightly. "What happened?" He questioned.

"She punched me in the face…" Naruto muttered, as he dabbed at the blood. "I don't know what's wrong. She's never been like this before. I mean, I've done worse things and she's never reacted like this."

"Hmm…" 

Naruto watched curiously as the older Shinobi placed a finger on his masked chin and glanced at Sakura's tent, then suddenly started towards it.

"Master Kakashi!" Naruto exclaimed in shock. "What're you doing?!"

The Jounin turned and stared at Naruto. 

"What does it look like? I'm going to see what's bothering her," he replied calmly.

"Are you crazy?" Naruto questioned incredulously. "She's not going to tell you anything! I know her! She's a _girl…and who knows, she might go crazy again and punch __you in the face."_

Sasuke, who had remained silent the whole time, finally spoke up, obviously to go against what Naruto had just said.

"If she tries to punch him in the face, he won't sit there and let himself get hit like you did, you idiot," Sasuke said calmly, as Naruto turned red from embarrassment.

Kakashi sighed as they started to bicker and decided to use the opportunity to go see Sakura. He thought it odd to see Sakura so angry, and even more so to have seen her cry…and cry real tears of anger and frustration.

He paused outside her tent, tuning out the sound of Naruto's arguing to see if she was still awake. Straining his ears, he listened intently, his uncovered eye widening slightly as he managed to detect the sounds of sniffling coming from within, accompanied by a hiccup every now and then.

Deliberately, he stepped on a twig to alert her of his presence. As soon as the twig snapped, the sound of her crying ceased abruptly, and her angry voice called out.

"Leave me _alone, _Naruto!" She shouted from within the tent, her voice quavering. "If you don't go, I'll use my shuriken on you, and I'm not joking!"

"Would you?" the Shinobi questioned, smiling under his mask. "I thought I made it clear that you were only to use shuriken against your enemies."

There was a sudden silence from within Sakura's tent, but her meek voice soon followed. 

"M-Master Kakashi…? I-I…please…leave me alone…I don't feel like talking right now," she whispered, her voice barely reaching his ears. "I…I don't feel well…"

"Why? Are you ill?" He questioned, his brow furrowing at the weak tone of her voice.

"It's nothing, it's just…" Sakura mumbled from within her tent, her face blazing red with embarrassment at the thought of having to explain that she was having cramps, especially to a guy…a guy teacher…a guy teacher who just happened to be Kakashi none the less…

Wincing, she half-crawled and limped to the opening of her tent and slowly opened the flap, coming face to face with her teacher, who blinked at her frightening appearance. Black circles were beneath her now dull green eyes, and her hair hung limp around her face. Dry tear-streaks marked her face, which had gone pale from pain.

Suddenly Sakura let her hand fall from the flap when another jolt of pain forced a gasp of pain from her lips as she slumped, grimacing at the pain. Kakashi, on the other hand, had no idea what was wrong, and immediately reached down to help her, alarm clear in his gaze.

"Erm, don't move Sakura!" He said, somewhat nervously as she clenched her fists and paled even more. "I'll…I'll postpone the mission for now…get you to a doctor…" he mumbled as he stared at her grimacing face.

"No," she managed to say between her teeth, as she crawled back into the tent and retrieved her bag. "It's nothing…it's just…"

Kakashi watched apprehensively, a little confused when she retrieved a bottle of painkillers and swallowed two of them as if she had done this many times before.

Taking deep breaths, her face glowing red with humiliation, she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and muttered.

"It's a girl thing…"

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Sakura had never felt more awkward in her life, and the vibrant blush on her face did not make her dilemma any easier. She felt ridiculous, sitting there with her _teacher, for God's sake, gaping at her as if she had two heads._

"Well," she finally stuttered, refusing to look up. "Now that you know I'm not dying…" She bowed her head, too embarrassed to finish the sentence.

"That's not what's bothering you."

Sakura blinked and glanced up at him in surprise as he ducked his head and entered, sitting himself in front of her. Sakura felt her face grow hot with embarrassment, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Something else is bothering you," he said simply, returning to his usual nonchalant expression. 

Sakura twitched, entwining her fingers together tightly in her lap, as she continued to stare at the ground. _Damn him…she thought inwardly, gritting her teeth. __How did he know? _

"There must be something else bothering you, because you would never have broken Naruto's nose just for that incident at the pond," Kakashi said, grinning a little at the guilty look on Sakura's face.

"I…I broke his nose?" She whispered meekly, her eyes widening considerably. 

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know. It was bleeding pretty badly though."

Now, if this had been Sakura at a normal day in her life, she would have been sorry and a little ashamed, but since she was floating in a sea of mood swings, her reaction was completely different, and she finally cracked.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes in confusion as Sakura's chin began to tremble, and before he could react, tears suddenly sprang from her eyes and she let out a wail that nearly shattered his ear drums.

Alarmed, he moved a few inches back as Sakura grabbed her pillow and began beating it with her fists, sobbing hysterically all the while. 

"Eh…Sakura?" He said gently, as she buried her face into the pillow and continued to sob. "Maybe…it would be best…if I just"-

"No!" She cried, raising her splotchy face from the pillow and clamping her hand down on his arm. "Don't go! I'll tell you…I have to tell someone…or I'm going to go crazy!"

Before he could reply, she was spilling out all that had been bothering her. Things like the fact that she had split ends, to things like the fact that she missed her family and surprisingly, Ino. 

Kakashi, amidst all her sobbing, had managed to keep a pitying expression on his face, instead of breaking into an amused smile when she cried about how hard it had been to get the mud stains out of her clothes.

His amusement turned to shock though, when she sidled up next to him, and leaned her head against the inside of his shoulder, her sobs reduced to whimpering and sniffling. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, the older Shinobi occupied himself by counting the number of square patterns on her mangled pillow, as she continued her sniffling.

It seemed a while until Sakura finally got a hold of herself, and was reduced to a temporary shell of herself. She blinked slowly, feeling completely worn out, and it was then she noticed that she was still practically sitting in her teacher's lap.

She also noticed something else…for the whole time she had cried, he had sat stock still and had not said a single word of comfort, instead, he seemed to be murmuring something under his breath.

If she had listened closely, she would have heard him say "Seventy-eight…seventy-nine, no wait, I counted that one…seventy-ten, seventy-eleven…seventy-…wait a minute…seventy-eleven…?"

Unfortunately, for poor Kakashi, Sakura underwent another one of her mood swings right then and suddenly became aggravated.

"Master Kakashi!" She said, sounding hurt, as she moved back to her own spot. "How come you never said anything? You just sat there!"

The Jounin stared at her blankly for a moment, and then suddenly seemed to remember where he was. 

"Oh…" he said slowly, reaching forward and patting her head. "There, there."

Sakura gave him an incredulous look. "There, there!? What are you, somebody's grandma? You call that comforting!?"

Kakashi could only shrug helplessly in response.

Sakura frowned at him, but her expression softened as she realized how long he had been there, risking his sense of hearing as she bawled at the top of her lungs.

"Sorry…" she said sheepishly. "What I meant to say was thanks…for listening, I mean," she said shyly, tucking a lock of pink hair behind her ear. The Jounin smiled at her in return, his visible eye crinkling. 

"But…" Sakura said suddenly, twiddling her thumbs as a small, slightly mischievous smile overtook her face. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Since I told you…I mean, since you know what's been bothering me lately…I mean, with me being the only girl with slobs for team mates, could you let me…uh…" she mumbled, her face blazing pink.

"Could we talk sometimes?" She blurted, and she lowered her eyes as her teacher grinned at her from beneath his mask.

"About what?"

"You know…stuff. I need to vent sometimes, and talking to Ino was one way I used to do it. We used to do each other's hair, and talked about everything. It would be fun."

"…"

"Master Kakashi…?"

"You…want to do my hair?" 

"No! I mean, it's what Ino and I…I mean, Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't want…uh, if you didn't mind?"

"Okay."

"What?" Sakura exclaimed, pleasant surprise causing a smile to appear on her pale face.

"I said okay," Kakashi answered, running a hand through his hair. "If it makes you happy."

"Oh, it would!" Sakura said earnestly, beaming at her teacher.

"All right then. As long as it doesn't interfere with the mission," he said, stretching his stiff arms as he moved to stand.

Sakura scrambled to her feet and followed him outside, where he tilted his neck to the side and worked out a kink. Sakura suddenly seemed to realize how tall her teacher was, and wondered how uncomfortable he had been sitting inside her tent.

"All right Sakura. Goodnight. I'm going to go see if Naruto's all right," he said lazily, scratching his hair.

Sakura's face fell, and winced when she realized how hard she must have hit Naruto.

"Um, Master Kakashi? Can you tell Naruto…?" She trailed off, but smiled hopefully when he nodded. 

"Don't worry. I'll tell him that you meant to break his teeth, not his nose…it was a joke!" He said bracingly at the look on Sakura's face. "I'll tell him you were sorry."

He turned to leave, but was suddenly held there when Sakura came forward and gave him a quick hug, muttering thanks before she pulled back and disappeared back into her tent.

Kakashi stood there for a moment, until a tender and yet confused smile graced his hidden face. Shaking his head, he turned and walked back to the other tents.

"Must be a girl thing…"

**********

Note: Heh heh, I guess it was okay. But to really know, I need your reviews! ^_^ Thanx for reading, and if you guys want, I'll probably do a second chapter, to show the friendship that forms between Kakashi and Sakura. Definitely more humor too. Anyway, please review, and have a nice day.


	2. Hair Therapy

A Girl Thing…ch.2

By: firefly

Note: Hey guys! Thank you SOOOO much for the wonderful reviews you gave me! You have no idea how happy it made me to see that you guys could actually relate to poor Sakura. ^_^ I gave her the exact dilemma I have. Heh heh. Anyway, I know this was supposed to be a one-shot, but I just couldn't resist giving you wonderful people another chapter, so I wrote one! And to those who want me to make this a Kaka/Saku romance…I can't really do that, because that would kill me, seriously. Anyway, if you guys want some Kaka/Saku, go to this web site. I stumbled upon it while searching for Kakashi related stuff. ^_^;; It has fan manga, but unfortunately it's all in Japanese. But you can pretty much get the idea of what's happening from the pictures.  

Here's the web site: (The first comic is really cute and funny, I laughed my ass off. And remember, read right to left! ^_^)

So commence as before, and please read and review. Thanx, and have a nice day!

**********

**Hair Therapy**

****

Sakura glanced at the dying sunset, her face dissolving into an expression of relief when she saw that it was almost late evening. Her feet were killing her. After managing to get through the Muddy Forest of Doom, she and her team had to climb a sheer vertical cliff, and then walk uphill for three hours. 

She was right. This mission did rot.

But there was one little thing she was looking forward to…

Sakura let a small, appreciative smile appear on her face as she looked ahead and saw Kakashi restraining Naruto, who was trying to get at Sasuke to kill him, obviously because of another stinging insult.

She sighed in content, forgetting her aching feet as she imagined a quiet, reserved evening of doing her teacher's hair and discussing useless topics. 

Pure…bliss…

"DIE!" Naruto screamed as he lunged at the expressionless boy with a kunai knife in hand.

Sakura sighed again, twirling a lock of pink hair around her finger and smiling happily, as Kakashi grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his neck and tied his arms together, with Naruto screaming obscenities at Sasuke all the while.

Yes, pure bliss.

**********

Sakura fumbled around for her bag, feeling slightly nervous as she waited for her teacher's much-anticipated arrival. Hell, he'd probably be late like always, and think nothing of it. But for her, this happened to be a big deal.

She sat outside her tent, looking through her bag to make sure she had everything she needed, the dim firelight just shy of her frame.

"Aha!" She said to herself as she found her favourite hair brush, buried under an arsenal of hair ties and clips, all in different shapes, sizes, and colours. And there…lying under a packet of tissues, were a pair of gleaming scissors.

Slowly, she let her hand close around it as she raised it in front of her eyes, a small grin appearing on her face. Quickly, she shoved the scissors into the bag and got to her feet. 

_I'm sure Master Kakashi won't mind if I take a teensy bit off the top…when he's not looking…_Sakura thought, giggling.

"What's so funny?"

Sakura whirled around, her heart beating a mile a minute from the sudden disruption of silence. Kakashi stood there, staring at her with one brow raised, an amused look on his face.

"Oh…Master Kakashi," she stammered, finding her voice unnaturally high. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," he said, before lowering his visible eye to the enormous duffel bag Sakura held. "What's that for? Are you planning to kill me?"

It took a moment for Sakura to understand his warped sense of humour, and she shook her head dumbly. 

"Okay then, let's go," he said, turning his back and walking in the opposite direction. Sakura wasn't expecting this, but said nothing as she followed from behind, a smile growing on her face as she remembered the pair of scissors in her bag.

He led her to his own tent, which was considerably larger than her own. Sakura blinked, finally realizing the obvious. Her tent was way too small for both of them to sit comfortably in.

As soon as she entered, she dropped the duffel bag to the ground and came to her knees, her hands reaching inside for her tools. 

Kakashi sat down and watched her, a sweat drop forming on the back of his head as she started to mutter to herself.

"Marshmellows…check. Hair brush…check…" and so on for about five minutes. 

Then finally, "Okay! I'm ready!" Sakura chirped happily, lugging the bag up to Kakashi, who was admittedly nervous about what the large bag contained.

But to his relief, she dropped it nearby and settled herself in front of him, a bag of marshmallows held in her hands.

"Want one?" she offered, popping one of the masses of sugar and starch into her mouth. Kakashi shook his head, wondering if Sakura had diligently planned this after he had agreed to have one on one "girl talks" with her.

Chewing thoughtfully, Sakura picked up a small booklet she brought and looked inside, before raising her eyes to him inquisitively. 

"When's you birthday, Master Kakashi?"

The question caught him off guard.

"What?"

"When's your birthday?"

"Erm, September 15."

"Hmm…"

He watched her flip through the pages of the book until a look of enlightenment crossed her face.

"A Virgo, huh?" She said, grinning as she flopped down on her stomach, leaning on her elbows as she read through the booklet. "I bought this from the last village we stopped at. I decided that I needed to get to know the real you. I mean, you never tell us anything about yourself." She mumbled, chewing on her thumb nail as she looked up at him innocently.

He was drawing a blank. What was he supposed to say? This was a girl, a young adolescent girl. He decided to blurt out the only thing he could think of.

"Sakura, weren't you going to do my hair?" He asked, his voice somewhat desperate.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura exclaimed, snapping her fingers and scrambling to her feet. "You can tell me about yourself while I do your hair!"

Sighing inwardly in relief, he gladly made room for her, sitting cross-legged on the ground as she came up behind him, sitting on her knees. Humming contentedly to herself, Sakura reached for the hairbrush, holding it in one hand, the other occupied by her little booklet of horoscopes.

"Virgo is the sixth Sign of the Zodiac. The first five Signs represent the growth of the individual, and Virgo brings their skills and talents together for the good of others. Virgo is the Sign of Service. Despite their inherent modesty, people born under Virgo are industrious and efficient when working for a good cause. They are neat and well organized. As the sixth Sign, Virgo also rules the sixth House: the House of Health," Sakura read from the booklet, glancing down at her teacher.

"Hmm, that sounds pretty accurate, except for the 'neat and organized' part, you're never on time!" Sakura said, giggling as Kakashi shrugged, clueless, unaware that he even _was _a Virgo.

"Master Kakashi, can you ditch the headband for a while? It'll be hard to do your hair with it in the way," Sakura suddenly asked sweetly, pleased when Kakashi complied and pulled it off, his normally hidden Sharingan eye squinting at the fire light that enveloped the inside of the tent.

Sakura found herself staring at the blood red eye in fascination, having only witnessed it once before. Her face grew warm, her cheeks flushing slightly when she realized that Kakashi really did want to help her…because he never removed the head band unless they were in a life and death situation.

_He must really care about the well-being of his students…_Sakura realized, as Kakashi waited patiently for her to commence.

Blinking, she snapped herself from her thoughts and smiled at the unruly mass of silver hair in front of her.

Reaching forward, she let her fingers comb some strands away from his eyes, her eyes widening at the soft feel of his hair.

"Wow, Master Kakashi, you have texture a girl would kill for!" She exclaimed, getting a small chuckle from her teacher. 

The Jounin relaxed as Sakura gently swept the stray hairs away from his visage, the spidery touches soothing his tension. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea.

"So Master Kakashi…" Sakura said slyly. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He barely heard her. The sensation of having her fingers and hairbrush running through his hair were having a strange effect. He could feel his eyes drifting closed, and his shoulders drooping.

"What do you think?" He murmured with his eyes closed, smiling at her question.

"To tell you honestly…I'd say you didn't. First, you're never on time. You have to be punctual, that's one of the most important things in a relationship. Second, you never show your face. I mean, I know love is all about what's inside a person's heart, but a girl's gotta know what her boyfriend looks like! And third, you're not really communicative. I bet that if you had a girlfriend, all she'd know about you was your name," Sakura said logically, now braiding his hair.

"Now that I think about it, I bet you never had a woman in your life," Sakura said, shaking her head.

The older Shinobi opened his eyes, and slowly turned his head, glancing up at Sakura, a strange light flickering in his gaze. Sakura blinked at his sudden serious expression.

"You're partially right."

Sakura's eyes widened. 

"I did know one woman, whom I loved more than anything," he replied, holding her gaze. "But she died a long time ago…"

Sakura remained still and said nothing, hoping that this rare display of his past life wouldn't end as soon as it had started. 

"She was very beautiful," he continued, a note of nostalgia audible in his tone. "She was the world to me."

Sakura continued to run the brush through his wild silver hair, listening intently as she did so. The tone of his voice was one she had never heard before, and she could feel goose bumps rising on her arms.

"She used to sing to me...but I never really appreciated it. Now I regret not listening to her songs when I had the chance to." He murmured, finally pushing Sakura to the point that she couldn't stand the suspense anymore.

"Who was she?" Sakura whispered, mystified, her eyes full of wonderment and awe.

Kakashi glanced up at her and smiled.

"My mom."

Somewhere nearby, Naruto and Sasuke stirred in their sleeping bags as Sakura face-faulted.

**********

Note: Hee hee, I'm gonna end it there. And you know why? I wanna do another chapter! ^_^ And yeah, I like a Mama's Boy, hence Kakashi's revelation. Stay tuned for the next chapter, in which Naruto and Sasuke start to wonder what's been going on while they sleep. Also, Sakura whips out the scissors! *horrified screams from Kakashi fans* Will she succeed in taking Kakashi's beautiful hair into the clutches of the evil blades? You'll see in the next chapter!

Please review! Thanx!


	3. The Girl and the Scarecrow

A Girl Thing…ch.3

By: firefly

Note: WOW! I have 50+ reviews already!? *glomps the nearest reader* I _love_ you people! Thank you so much for all of the wonderful feedback. Usually, I never update stories this fast, but your positive and enthusiastic reviews have persuaded me to do yet another (and sadly the last) chapter. Also, my link didn't work, did it? Well, I'll post it again, but this time I'll quotation marks, so it doesn't disappear on you guys.

Here it is again: "" (Just copy and paste it into the address bar, but WITHOUT the quotation marks. ^_^ And if it doesn't work again, just e-mail me and I'll send you the link that way.)

Anyway, on with the fic! Please review, thanx, and have a nice day!

(*WARNING* Extreme fluffiness ahead! ^_^)

**The Girl and the Scarecrow**

****

Sasuke had been experiencing the most wonderful dream…he had met with a terrible accident that left his face horribly disfigured, and Ino and Sakura were running in the opposite direction when he came into sight, his ugliness repulsing them. That had brought tears of joy into his eyes, and he found himself yelling mocking words at the two girls as he chased them, laughing hysterically.

"Ha ha…look at me now…hee hee, aren't I beautiful? Ino…Sakura…don't you like me anymore? Ha ha ha…" Sasuke giggled in his sleep, when Naruto suddenly burst into his tent and woke him up. 

After a few curse words and a lot of persuasion, Sasuke found himself sitting in the dark, cold and miserable as Naruto sat by him, spying on their teacher's tent.

"What do you think they're doing in there…?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke, the two boys crouching behind a large log, Naruto's eyes focused suspiciously on Kakashi's tent.

"I don't know and I don't care!" Sasuke said irritably, trying to blink the sleepiness from his eyes. "Why the hell did you wake me up!?"

"Because of that!" Naruto hissed at him, pointing at Kakashi's tent. "There's no way Sakura would stay in there that long without being held against her will!"

Sasuke's eye twitched, and he could feel his fingers reaching for his shuriken, so he could silence Naruto and return to his bed. 

"Oh my God…do you think they could be…?" Naruto started, only to be cut off by a disgusted look from Sasuke.

"You're messed up," Sasuke muttered.

"Shh, shut up! I think they're talking!" Naruto whispered, his eyes wide, as he turned his attention back to the tent while Sasuke grumbled in the background. 

****

****

**********

"Ow…" Sakura mumbled as she sat back up, rubbing her head after she had just face-faulted. 

Kakashi was looking at her over his shoulder, a bemused look in his eyes. "What? Who did you think I was talking about?" He said as Sakura gave him a funny look.

"Never mind," she said with a disappointed sigh, flinching at the annoying ache in her knees. Her knees had begun to ache shortly after she started to brush Kakashi's hair, with her standing on them the whole time just to reach her teacher's head.

The Jounin noticed this of course, and glanced around until he found what he was looking for.

Sakura watched curiously as he grabbed two pillows and stacked them upon each other. Then he shifted so he could lean comfortably against them, his head now at a perfectly accessible height.

He glanced upwards at Sakura, smiling cheekily under his mask, both eyes crinkling into an annoyingly superior look.

Sakura cocked an eyebrow, and picked up the brush as Inner Sakura snickered evilly inside her head. _Heh heh, just you wait. I still have those scissors! Nyah!_

Smiling sweetly, Sakura sat cross-legged behind Kakashi, who lay there with his hands folded comfortably over his chest, once again waiting for her to commence.

"All right Master Kakashi, just relax." Sakura said in a sugary, soft voice, placing her brush once again within her teacher's silver hair. Unbeknownst to the ignorant Jounin, Inner Sakura was ranting conniving things as Sakura proceeded to run the brush through his hair, this time going deliberately slow.

Sakura watched interestedly at her teacher's expression, as she ran the brush gently through his hair.

Her green eyes widened when she noticed a significant droop in his eyelids, before he blinked and attempted to fight the soothing and sleep-inducing brush strokes.

_Heh heh…_Sakura thought inwardly, a plan hatching in her mind. _He's like a big cat…if I keep this up, he's gonna be asleep in no time…and then I can use the scissors…_

Smirking, Sakura started the first phase of her plan…

She started to hum.

Then, a few seconds after she began to hum…

She ditched the hairbrush.

And right after she ditched the hair brush…

She began the slow, agonizing torture of running her fingers smoothly and deftly through his hair.

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly when Sakura slipped her fingers into his hair, and began to comb through the thick silver strands, humming quietly all the while.

Almost immediately, he could feel his eyelids drooping downwards again. He managed to force them open…only to have them drift half-way over his eyes right after.

Sakura watched all of this keenly, noticing the Jounin's dying attempts to keep his eyes open.

_All right…_Sakura thought silently, smirking. _You asked for it…_

Sakura turned the pitch of her humming down an octave. Then gently, and almost painfully slowly, she ran the tip of her finger from his forehead, down to his temple, where she lifted some stray hairs away from face, and brushed it back so that they just barely dragged over his skin.

Kakashi twitched, eyes drifting to a total close as the tingling sensation rendered him motionless. 

Then Sakura did a positively evil and cruel thing.

She did it again.

But this time with two fingers on either side of his head. 

Her fingers wove warm paths through his hair, occasionally brushing against his skin and leaving behind a tingling sensation of pleasure.

Yes, Sakura was truly evil at heart. 

Kakashi was fighting a losing battle, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to last much longer under the torture Sakura was putting him through.

"Sakura…" he said weakly, as she traced her finger down the side of his face. "Don't…"

"Getting sleepy?" She murmured in response, refusing to let up.

He never heard her, because his will snapped right then and he succumbed to the weight on his eyes.

Sakura giggled silently when she saw that she had lulled the Jounin to sleep. She withdrew her hands from his hair and watched him cautiously. The steady and slow breathing told her all she needed to know.

He was out like a light.

Resisting the urge to cackle triumphantly, Sakura quietly slipped her hand into her bag, keeping her eyes on Kakashi the whole time. She felt around inside the bag, until her fingers brushed against cold metal.

She closed her hand around it and pulled it out of the bag.

The moment of truth had arrived.

Holding her breath, Sakura parted the blades of the scissors and leaned forward.

**********

Naruto and Sasuke watched, bug-eyed, as they saw Sakura's shadow leaning over Kakashi's through the tent, a pointy, sharp object clutched in her hand.

"Holy crap!" Naruto yelled.

"Sakura's gonna kill Master Kakashi!"

**********

Kakashi didn't know what caused him to wake at that critical moment. Perhaps it was Naruto's loud shout, or maybe it was an aspect of the Sharingan eye he had yet to discover. But it didn't really matter, because as soon as his eyes opened, he found himself staring at a pair of scissors pointing down at him.

Sakura let out a gasp of shock when Kakashi's eyes suddenly flew open, his gaze aimed directly at the scissors clutched in her hand. The sudden sight of seeing his blood red Sharingan eye seemed to have momentarily paralyzed her, but she managed to whip the scissors behind her back a fraction of a second later.

Sakura blinked, smiling innocently as Kakashi slowly sat up, his wide-eyed gaze fixed on her.

"You…" he started, looking mortified for once. "…were going to cut my _hair_…"

Sakura pouted and brought the scissors out from behind her back, but then she smiled sweetly.

"I was just gonna even out the edges…" she said innocently. 

"But…you didn't ask!"

"I didn't think you'd be so defensive."

"Yes, well, this is my hair we're talking about, Sakura. Of course I'm going to be defensive."

"Oh come on!" Sakura said, grinning a little as she playfully snipped at the air. "A little trim won't hurt!"

"No, Sakura. When I said that I'd help you get through your problem, I never said anything about letting you cut my hair," Kakashi said, as he kept a wary eye on the scissors.

"What are you so scared about, Master Kakashi? It'll grow back," Sakura said as she eyed his hair wistfully.

"You should go to bed now," he stated suddenly, abruptly changing the subject. "We'll be returning to the village in three days, and there you'll be able to find Ino and cut all the hair you want."

Sakura blinked at him, looking hurt. Apparently, the PMS hadn't exactly disappeared…

"I thought you wanted to help me," she said, feeling an uncontrollable urge to cry.

"I do, Sakura," he said, sighing at her expression. "But even I have my limits."

"Y-You promised that you'd help me through m-my problem…until we got back to the village," she whimpered now, tearing up, unaware of the panicky look on Kakashi's face.

"You s-said that until I met back up with Ino, you'd talk to me and take c-care of me…"

"Sakura, don't cry."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" Sakura suddenly exploded on him, the decibels reaching an all new high. "I have the right to cry!"

Kakashi blinked, startled, wondering what he had done to deserve such punishment.

_Please…_he prayed inwardly. _Don't let her cry…I'll give up Make-Out __Paradise__…just don't let her cry…!_

His prayer went unheard though, as the first tear fell from Sakura's green eyes, soon followed by another. She couldn't help it. It was as if she were trapped within her own head, and despite her conscience telling her that it wasn't such a big deal, an unearthly trauma known by the name of mood swings let the tears fall.

Angry and hurt, she sniffed and wrapped her arms around herself, lowering her eyes to the ground as they burned with held in tears.

Kakashi, despite his usual laid-back attitude and nonchalant expression, could not fight the feeling that he had done something wrong, and he grimaced as guilt rained down on him.

The woes of being a pre-teen, especially when one was a girl…he had no idea.

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed and glanced at Sakura.

"I'm sorry."

"Y-You don't even know why you're apologizing!" Sakura accused, sniffling again and refusing to look at him.

"You're right, Sakura."

Surprised, Sakura hesitantly glanced at him, her eyes widening to see a surprisingly tender look on his face.

"You're right," he repeated, running a hand through his hair again. "And you'll understand why."

"Why?" Sakura asked, slightly curious.

Kakashi smiled sheepishly.

"I'm a guy."

**********

"You know what? I bet he's hypnotizing her!" Naruto whispered under his breath, unaware of Sasuke coming up behind him, a dangerous glower on his face.

"I mean, I know I made a mistake when I thought she was gonna kill him, but why else would she…?" Naruto trailed off suddenly, when he realized how silent it had become.

He turned around.

"Sasuke…?"

BAM!

Sasuke smirked, staring tiredly at Naruto's unconscious body. His hand stung slightly, since he had just used it to knock Naruto out.

"You know…" Sasuke said quietly.

"I like you much better when you're not awake. Good night."

Then he turned and left, leaving Naruto lying slumped against the log.

**********

"Is that all?" Sakura said blankly, staring at Kakashi in disbelief.

He nodded in return, that sheepish look still on his face.

Sakura wiped her eyes, feeling strangely hollow. She knew that his reason was unjust, and that it gave no implication of guilt…but strangely…it just made _sense_. He was a guy, and guys in general, after all, had no idea how to react in such situations, especially when the latter was a PMSing adolescent girl.

But…he had also admitted it, which surprised her. Naruto, for example, would continuously have attempted to gain her forgiveness, and his begging and pleading would have just made her angrier.

Feeling strangely calm, Sakura breathed deeply, her eyes on the ground.

Then silently, and without looking up, she crawled over and handed him the hairbrush, plopping down in front of him expectantly.

Kakashi sighed inwardly in relief, and gladly took the brush from her and proceeded to run it through her long pink hair, missing the small, modest smile on Sakura's face as peaceful silence replaced conversation…finally leaving the two in quiet contentment of each other.

**********

**Epilogue**

****

****

_3 days later…_

There was an enormous feeling of relief the day Team 7 returned home, the relief emanating mostly from Kakashi, who after three days of spending "together" time with Sakura, felt as though he'd lose his mind if he'd see another hair brush.

Friday…the day to end all days.

A blessing from God.

Glancing around, he saw that the other teams were also arriving from their missions, and a squeal from Sakura told him that she had spotted Ino. He blinked, surprised, when he saw that Asuma looked as if he had been thoroughly harassed.

It didn't occur to him to wonder why.

"INO!"

"SAKURA!"

The two girls seemed to have forgotten their rivalry for Sasuke's love, especially when something as important as their first intelligent conversation with another fellow female was present.

Sasuke, on the other hand, wondered hopefully if his dream was actually a premonition.

Exhausted, Kakashi slowly made his way to the Ninja Academy, dragged himself up a flight of stairs, and collapsed face-down on a sofa in the teacher's lounge.

"So Kakashi, how'd the mission go?" Iruka asked as he walked into the room, smiling at the motionless Jounin.

"Tired…" came the unintelligent, muffled response.

"That's a first," Iruka mused, looking surprised. "What happened? Naruto wear you out?"

"…I brushed…hair…"

The Chunin cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't ask..."

Iruka didn't reply, but another voice found its way to Kakashi's ears.

"Um, is Master Kakashi in there?"

"Oh, you're Sakura, right? Yes, he's here."

"Could I have a word with him?"

"One moment."

Hearing Iruka's approaching footsteps, Kakashi managed to sit up, wondering if Sakura had lost one of her many hairclips inside his hair.

"A student is here to see you, Kakashi," Iruka said as he came back into the room, eyeing Kakashi with an amused look on his face.

"Want me to tell her to come back on Monday? You look pretty tired," Iruka commented.

"No, send her in," Kakashi replied, running his hand through his hair to check for any stray clips.

Sakura hesitantly poked her head into the teacher's lounge as Iruka nodded to her and left the room. A vibrant smile appeared on her face as she spotted Kakashi slumped against the sofa, his hand coming up to stifle a yawn.

"Hi Master Kakashi!" She said cheerily, walking into the room.

"Hello Sakura," he said wearily, rubbing his visible eye with his fist. He blinked the sleepiness from his eye, and glanced at her with a brow raised.

"Did you forget something? I thought you couldn't wait to go home and talk to Ino."

"Oh, Ino's waiting for me outside. I-I just wanted to give you something."

Kakashi blinked, noticing the sudden stutter in her sentence, her voice suddenly sounding small and shy.

"What is it?"

Sakura lowered her eyes, a small blush appearing on her face as she reached into her pocket.

"I made it for you last night," she said somewhat nervously, as she withdrew her hand and dangled something from between her fingers. 

She took a step closer and held it up for him to see. 

"It's…it's a friendship bracelet," she blurted as he reached out and accepted it from her, holding it in the palm of his right hand. The strings were blue, gray, and white, bound together in a neat criss-crossed pattern. 

"The criss-crosses represent unity…"

He glanced up at her, only to see that her blush had become more vibrant and noticeable. 

"I know it's childish and all…but I just wanted to let you know…"

Wordlessly, he placed the bracelet over his right wrist and extended his arm.

Sakura's face turned a pleased pink.

Reaching out, she tied the two ends of the bracelet together, keeping her gaze on the bracelet as Kakashi smiled at her appreciatively.

"Thank you, Sakura."

Sakura nodded mutely, stepping back and tucking a lock of pink hair behind her ear.

"Your welcome, Master Kakashi," she said quietly, clasping her hands tightly together as she walked backwards towards the door. "Well, I'd better go. I'm glad you liked it, the bracelet I mean…um, have a good weekend."

She gave a quick wave, smiling once more as he waved in return, before she bolted out the door.

Kakashi lowered his eyes to the bracelet again, smiling under his mask as Iruka entered the room again, accompanied by a cup of coffee.

"What was that all about?" He asked as he seated himself on an armchair, raising a newspaper in front of his face.

Kakashi smirked as he lay back down on the sofa, lowering his headband over both eyes and folding his hands behind his head.

"You wouldn't understand, Iruka. It was a girl thing."

**********

Note: Finished! And woefully done so! I hope that was satisfactory. And I hope the plot came to a successful finish. Anyway, thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews for the past chapters. I greatly appreciate it! ^_^ Anyway, if anyone wants to draw a pic for this fic, just make sure I get to see it! It would be cute see a pic of Sakura doing Kakashi's hair…the fluffiness is getting to my head. Oh, and the title of this chapter just refers to Sakura and Kakashi, whose name means "Scarecrow."

Besides my ranting, thanx again for reading, and don't forget to leave a review! ^_^ Have a nice day.


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